Context

The National Nutrition Week from September 1 to 7 is celebrated in India, to generate mass awareness about the need for pursuing nutrition and inculcate habits of healthy eating.

National Nutrition Week 2021: Theme

• This year’s theme for National Nutrition Week is ‘Feeding Smart Right from Start’.
• The union government has launched a programme for disseminating accurate information to generate public awareness by tapping into seminars and workshops.

National Nutrition: The Approach

• The problem of malnutrition in the country, including the stunting and wasting in the children of age group under 5 years of age.
• The government implements several schemes and programmes such as
• Anganwadi Services
• Scheme for Adolescent Girls
• Pradhan Mantri MatruVandanaYojana under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions.
• The government also set up POSHAN Abhiyaan which aims to prevent and reduce the prevalence of stunting, underweight and anaemia among children (0-6 years).
• Reduction in the prevalence of low birth weight in the country through ‘Jan Andolan’ involving Panchayati raj institutions/village organizations, among others.

Focus of the Poshan 2.0

• The POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to make India a malnutrition-free country by 2022.
• The mission POSHAN 2.0 focuses on strengthening nutritional content, outreach, delivery, and outcomes by developing practices that improve health, wellness, and immune response to disease and malnutrition.